Military-grade spyware licensed by an Israeli firm to governments for tracking terrorists and criminals was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists, business executives and two women close to murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to an investigation by The Washington Post and 16 media partners. (WaPo)
“The project was conceived by Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based journalism nonprofit, which, along with Amnesty International, a human rights group, had access to records that formed the basis of our reporting: a list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers concentrated in countries known to surveil their citizens and also known to have been clients of NSO Group,” Post executive editor Sally Buzbee explained in a letter from the editor on Sunday afternoon. (CNN Business)
The numbers identified were traced to several Arab royal family members, at least 65 business executives, 85 human rights activists, 189 journalists, and more than 600 politicians and government officials. (The Hill)
Roula Khalaf, who became the first female editor in the Financial Times’ history last year, was selected as a potential target throughout 2018. Other journalists who were selected as possible candidates for surveillance include The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The New York Times, Al Jazeera, France 24, Radio Free Europe, Mediapart, El País, Associated Press, Le Monde, Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse, The Economist, Reuters and Voice of America. (The Guardian)
NSO has disputed the findings of the reporting, saying it will investigate all credible claims of misuse and take appropriate action. The company says its spyware is used to fight terrorism and serious crimes, and that its technology was not associated in any way with Khashoggi’s murder. (PBS / Frontline)